Programs

Bella Mente serves children from infants to ready-for-kindergarten 5’s, as well as summer camp and after school care for K-5. We wanted to open a program which caters to working families who are still interested in their child’s education. We are a full day program in order to accommodate both working and non working families. We realize that a 3 hour a day program is unrealistic for some families and want to provide quality preschool in a loving environment.  We strive every day to make our program fit more closely to your child’s needs.

Newcomer (3 mo - 1 Year)

The Infant Classroom is the child’s first stop on their journey at Bella Mente.  Delivering a comfortable, safe, caring environment is the teacher’s focus in this class. Our infant classroom starts at 12 weeks and they transition on to the next classroom at or around 12 months. We keep our classroom at or under a 1:4 ratio.

There is no set schedule and our teachers work to meet each child’s individual needs. Our philosophy is such that as children’s fundamental needs are met in a loving, safe environment they will flourish through this time of rapid development. They emerge from the Infant Classroom happy, trusting, and ready for their transition from infant to young toddler. While this room serves our infants, we still incorporate our Reggio philosophy into their day to day by recognizing them as capable and competent individuals ready to learn and grow. The environment is set up to help each child take their learning to the next level.

Acclimation (12 months to 24 months)

Our acclimation classroom is a 1-5 ratio with a max of 10 children per day. This class is for children about 12 months up to 24 months. 

Unlike in our Newcomer class, the Acclimation class works with a community schedule. This means that the students are joining each other in activities throughout the day such as snack times, open curriculum time, outside times, and nap times. Since this is a new experience for our students, we spend time exploring what it means to be part of a community. There are lots of conversations outlining what we are doing and what comes next so we all understand what is happening.  While these students are navigating their days together, they are still engaged in solitary play from a developmental standpoint. This allows them to focus on developing their individual skills and follow their individual interests. Children in this age are generally fully mobile although not fully walking and are enthusiastic about exploring all things in their environment. We strive to match their curiosity by exposing them to art, science, sensory, literacy, small motor, imaginary play, and gross motor play outside. 

Independence (18 months to 2.5 years)

The 2’s classroom bridges the gap between the Toddler classroom and the youngest of our Preschool classrooms. We have a 1:7 ratio, with a maximum of 14 children each day. In this classroom we focus on personal relationships, communication, and scaffolding many of the skills they will need to succeed in our preschool classrooms.

The independence class is a unique age group where children are using their onlooker play to fine tune their “independent” self awareness and also figure out what it means to play alongside others. During this stage of onlooker play, children work on mastering their communication as they navigate taking initiative in their day to day activities. This play transitions to one of parallel play as they play alongside their friends. These students practice their skills through opportunities of art, sensory, fine and gross motor, literacy, science and imaginary play. 

Adventure (2.5-3.5 year olds)

Our adventure classroom serves children approximately 3 years old . We have a 1:8 ratio with a max of 16 children per day.  This is typically where potty training is a main priority throughout their day and we focus on getting children ready to move up to our older preschool classrooms. 

This age group uses parallel play as they play alongside their friends and then transition into associative play towards the end of their time in this class. This shift from playing next to your friends versus with your friends takes mastery in a variety of skills. We focus much of our time on awareness on how we are feeling and how others are feeling too. This social emotional foundation sets the tone for the collaborative play of their older peers. On a daily basis we use our play to work on letter and number mastery, sensory exploration, fine motor skills, imaginary play, outside large motor, long term project work, and creative expression through art. 

Discovery (3.5-4.5 year olds)

Our Discovery class is designed for children turning 4 years old. We have a 1:9 ratio with a max of 18 children per day. 

These students are developing the skills to collaborate and truly work together in their play. They mostly begin in the associative play state where they each have their own goal for play but are interacting with one another as they meet them. Throughout the year the students scaffold their interactions to work towards a common goal during their play. This cooperative play foundation sets the tone for their project work and transition to the maven class. 

Throughout our play, these students are focusing a lot of our attention on writing our names, learning our letters, communication with each other, and being leaders in the classroom and in our community. On a daily basis we have opportunities for letter mastery, fine motor practice, sensory exploration, imaginary play, building and architecture, scientific experiments, math/logic, and featured artists and mediums.

Maven (4.5-6 year olds, the year before Kindergarten)

Our Maven classroom is for our children who will graduate to kindergarten the following year. We have a 1:10 ratio with a maximum of 20 children per day.  

A main focus of this classroom is to help children develop the skills that are needed for cooperative play. Cooperative play occurs when children are not only playing together, but rather are working together towards a common goal. Our project work takes new shapes with this group and through this play the students are able to scaffold and enhance their language and cognitive abilities. This also aids in building a social emotional foundation that sets the tone for any learning opportunities they have in their future.

School Age Program (K-5)

This program is a soft landing spot for students to come back to after a rigid day of rules and structured activities. This program allows for friendships that have been built over the years to continue to grow while also building new ones.  Our school-agers range from Kindergarten to 5th grade, comprised from schools throughout our community. Our older students have the opportunity to adopt leadership roles within our preschool classrooms by guiding them and teaching them skills that they have mastered themselves. Our play based Reggio philosophy continues in this classroom as the students collaborate daily on projects, activities and ways to contribute to our community. We offer camps for our students during the SPS closures in addition to a summer camp program. This group has a 1:15 ratio with a max of 30 children in the program at one time. We receive bus transportation from Roxhill, STEM, Highland Park and Pathfinder Elementary Schools. There is an additional transport fee for students coming from Arbor Heights, Gatewood and Fairmount park Elementary Schools.

In Person Tours

In person groups tours are done by appointment only at this time.